Happy 2022! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday and were able to find some time to celebrate and also recover. What a year 2021 was - and we thought that would be easy compared to 2020. Ha.

At the beginning of each year I typically look back at my journals from the past year. It is a ritual that I enjoy and also value as I continue to prepare. And as I am well into my 2021 journals there was an interesting change compared to previous years. Specifically the amount of writing I did! It was far more than usual, which wasn't a complete surprise as it was one heck of a year, and I had a lot to get through, clear and learn.

One of the main themes that continued to show up was the need for recovery and renewal. An important learning reinforced (again) was:

slow down, be still, listen, recover

I wrote a blog on this a few years ago (2017 - The Power of Pause) and apparently needed to learn this concept again. It wasn't quite the same for me this time. In addition for the need to slow down and recover is the added importance to empty. Empty to receive. Clean the closets. Make room for what's next. To that end, instead of deciding what will I DO in the new year (by now you know me well enough to know that I don't do New Years resolutions). I am asking...

what do I need to set aside? And even more specifically,

what distractions do I need to set aside?

As I began to think about this, here is some of what I wrote in my journal:

"What were my distractions from last year? I am not sure, as I am too distracted today. Distracted with other peoples needs, agendas, requests, impositions. Like a new neighbor who recently showed up unannounced/barged in our house and I let her! She seemed like the woman at the well (see John 4). Well, maybe she wasn't the woman at the well, but clearly she wasn't well. Once again I got annoyed by a person who isn't well...what do I need to learn from this?"

So I will continue to dig into this.

How about you? What are you holding onto that needs to be set aside?

What are the relationships that bring life - and what are the ones that don't?

What work is thriving - and what needs to be pruned?

Before you are full on into 2022, can you take a minute and look at what you might let go? What held you back last year, what didn't add value, what was a distraction?

Now is a great time to let go. Empty so we can make space for creation, find goodness and a better year ahead!

May 2022 be for you as the Psalmist (27:13) wrote

"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."